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There have been a number of comments about this scheme, with some people defending it and some criticising it. Based on all of the comments, and having seen the application pack which the sisters mentioned below send out, I have come to the following conclusion:

* There seems to actually be an opportunity for sisters to study in this university, as well as other universities in the Kingdom. However, the nature of this opportunity and its conditions need further research.

* I strongly advise the sisters not to use the method mentioned below, regardless of the intention of the people involved. You do not need to use this method any more than the brothers need to in order to apply to Madinah University. It can be daunting to apply to a university in Saudi Arabia, but with a little bit of guidance, it can be quite easy.

* In shaa Allah, I plan to do further research into the opportunities available, over the next few days, and where it is possible to add the information to the site, then we will do so, if Allah wills.

* With regard to not needing a mahram – even if this is correct according to the conditions of the university (which is not confirmed), it is not Islamically permissible. The Prophet – may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – said, “It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel more than a day and a night’s travel, without a mahram.” This equates to a matter of a few miles, not thousands of miles to live in a different country. The correct opinion from the people of knowledge is that a woman cannot go to perform her obligatory Hajj without a mahram, so certainly she cannot do so for non-obligatory actions, no matter how good they are. How can a person go to seek the bounty of Allah in a way that angers and displeases Him? Whoever helps women to travel without a mahram is sinful and disobedient to Allah – the Exalted, and is turning people away from the path of Allah, not helping people towards it.Allah knows best, and He is the One who guides to the right path.

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I receieved this email from a normally very reliable source. However, it seems that this is not true. I don’t honestly know whether the opportunity is actually there, but it seems the fees are part of a scam. To be fair, I should have known better, because it is very unusual for a university here to charge fees, however, the source of the email made me think that it was legitimate.

One of the things that I have been thinking for a while is that the Islamic University should change the condition of not taking into account qualifications after high school/GCSE level.

There are some really good potential students who fulfill all of the conditions, except that they have gone on to study a degree, or even a post-graduate qualification, and so the time between their high school graduation and their application to the Islamic University is more than 5 years, and they are rejected on that basis.

The purpose of the condition is to stop applicants who have not done any study for more than 5 years, which is fine. However, stopping a student who graduated from another university a year or two ago doesn’t make any sense. Most students in the US/UK graduate from high school at 17 or 18. This effectively means that nobody older than 22 or 23 can apply to the university, because more than 5 years has passed. A student who has just received a first class degree might be rejected, simply because it has been six years since they passed their high school exams. The strange thing is that if they were to sit even one GCSE exam as an external candidate after their degree, they could still be accepted.

I mentioned this to one of the brothers who is responsible for accepting new students, and he has promised to make a formal suggestion at the next meeting that this condition be changed to include university degrees, as well as high school qualifications.

We need everyone to make du’aa that this is accepted, since it would make a huge impact for so many students.

Firstly, there is a second list of accepted students. It came out about a week ago and comprises around 120 students in total, of which I think 29 are from Europe and the US. Unfortunately, the list is not published in its entirety, and the letters haven’t yet been sent out. I can confirm that there is one British student: ‘Abdi Kareem Saaleh, and one American student: Abu Bakr Ahmad Mas’ad (excuse any spelling mistakes), who have both been accepted as part of the ‘second list’. To the best of my knowledge these two are the only two from the US and UK, but like I said, I had to fight a bit to see those names and the list was not complete, so no guarantees. Also congratulations to Buba Sulle Dicko from Cameroon, who was also accepted as part of the second list. Inshaa Allah, I’ll try to get the whole second list by the end of the week.

Secondly, To all of the accepted students from the US. It seems like you are all waiting for a letter to be sent to the embassy, detailing how many years you will be studying and your visa numbers. This information was faxed to the cultural attache on Wednesday night, so the university requests all students to contact the cultural attache and chase this up. I presume that they will forward this information to the embassy, who will then process all of the visas inshaa Allah.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, I just signed up to work for the university in the Dept. of Admissions. This will inshaa Allah, help all of you in two ways. Firstly, I will be able to get information and answers to your questions promptly, since I will be there for at least an hour every day inshaa Allah and develop better contacts with the people who work there. Secondly, my first task will be to revamp the section of the university website which deals with admissions. That means a new fully electronic method of submitting applications (which is already under development), an accurate English translation of the website, and the most important and most frequent questions and comments from this site will inshaa Allah be incorporated into the official site, with the responses checked and signed off by university officials.

This is a chance for all of you to give your feedback and comments.

From the top of my head, these are some things I think we need to focus upon:

The requirements, conditions, requested documents, and actions that are required from prospective students should be clear at all stages: before submitting documents, when you are accepted, and after you arrive. A google earth ‘map’ of the university wouldn’t be a bad idea for new students.

The website should contain frequently asked questions based on this blog and others, and a means to effectively communicate with the university electronically.

Accepted students’ names should be published on the website, even if it is that every student who applies is given a reference and has to enter the reference to find out. It would even be nice if they were informed of their acceptance by email.

Please post some comments with your ideas & suggestions, then I will collate them and present them, inshaa Allah.